Quotes by Tobias Smollett

“We have many obligations to this good lady, who is a kind neighbour, an obliging friend, and a most agreeable companion: she speaks English prettily, and is greatly attached to the people and the customs of our nation. They””

“For the first time, Smollett adopted a device that Barbara Foley calls “pseudofactual imposture,” a strategy of presentation that we associate with the fictions of Behn, Defoe, and Richardson.””

“Not that there is any thing disagreeable about his person, but there is a total want of that nameless charm which captivates and controuls the inchanted spirit”

“As for the liberty of the press, like every other privilege, it must be restrained within certain bounds; for if it is carried to a breach of law, religion, and charity, it becomes one of the greatest evils that ever annoyed the community. If the lowest ruffian may stab your good-name with impunity in England, will you be so uncandid as to exclaim against Italy for the practice of common assassination? To what purpose is our property secured, if our moral character is left defenceless? People””

“truth is, I look upon both candidates in the same light; and should think myself a traitor to the constitution of my country, if I voted for either. If every elector would bring the same consideration home to his conscience, we should not have such reason to exclaim against the venality of p____ts.5 But we are all a pack of venal and corrupted rascals; so lost to all sense of honesty, and all tenderness of character, that, in a little time, I am fully persuaded, nothing will be infamous but virtue and public-spirit.””

“that report has influenced my opinion of his looks____You know we are the fools of prejudice. Howsoever””

“A novel is a large diffused picture, comprehending the characters of life, disposed in different groups, and exhibited in various attitudes, for the purposes of an uniform plan, and general occurrence, to which every individual figure is subservient. But this plan cannot be executed with propriety, probability, or success, without a principal personage to attract the attention, unite the incidents, unwind the clue of the labyrinth, and at last close the scene, by virtue of his own importance.””

“¡Ay de aquella nación en la que la turba tenga libertad para servir sus propias inclinaciones! El comercio, sin lugar a dudas, es una bendición, mientras esté circunscrito a sus propios canales, pero un exceso de riqueza acarrea siempre un exceso de males: mal gusto, falsos apetitos, falsas necesidades, extravagancia, venalidad y un desprecio del orden que engendran una licenciosidad, insolencia y partidismo que mantienen a la sociedad en continua efervescencia y acaban destruyendo todas las distinciones de la sociedad civil con el único resultado de la anarquía y el motín universales.Capitán Lismahago””

“En fin, la estupidez a veces es más irritante que la bribonería, y también más perjudicial.Matt Bramble””

“Ya se sabe que somos el juguete de los prejuicios.Jery Melford””

“There is such malice, treachery, and dissimulation, even among professed friends and intimate companions, as cannot fail to strike a virtuous mind with horror; and when Vice quits the stage for a moment, her place is immediately occupied by Folly...””

“Woe be to that nation, where the multitude is at liberty to follow their own inclinations!””

“The theatrical hero was too far gone in romance to brook such usage: he replied in blank verse, and a formal challenge ensued.””

“Life is a sort of a debtors' prison where we are all playthings of fortune””